Computers and hardware

Dell's Streak tablet headed to U.K. first

Finally, we have solid details on Dell's tablet.

After a vague press conference announcing the device at CES in January, followed by months of leaked details, we now have almost the full story on what is officially called the Streak.

As previously stated by Dell, it's a 5-inch touch screen tablet that will run the Android operating system. On Tuesday, Dell said that the tablet will later be upgraded to Android version 2.2, just announced at Google I/O. The device comes with an ARM-based Snapdragon chipset and 1GHz processor, 2GB of storage (expandable to 32GB with … Read more

U.S. CyberCom launches with first commander

With Army Gen. Keith Alexander named as its first commander, U.S. Cyber Command has a challenging mission and Alexander a demanding job.

Receiving a promotion to four-star general, Alexander on Friday was officially given the reins of U.S. Cyber Command by Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a ceremony in Fort Meade, Md. That signaled the initial launch of the division, which won't be up to full capability until October 1.

The mission of U.S. Cyber Command, or CyberCom, is to synchronize the Defense Department's various networks and cyberspace operations to better defend them against the … Read more

WebOS headed to a tablet by October

WebOS will be on a Hewlett-Packard tablet sometime in the next five months.

That's what Marty Wong, the head of HP's Personal Systems Group in Taiwan, said in an interview with Digitimes Friday.

"The HP Slate will hit the market before the end of the fiscal year ending in October, and consumers could see a wide range of software and application support at launch," Wong said.

WebOS is Palm's touch-screen operating system that now is only used in smartphones. In April, HP announced its intentions to purchase Palm for $1.2 billion. The Palm acquisition … Read more

Using a dairy farm to power your server farm

What do 10,000 cows and diesel generators have in common?

Both have the ability to power a 1-megawatt data center. Diesel generators are already used for this purpose at some data center sites, though the energy source is not very environmentally friendly. On the other hand, 10,000 cows grazing a dairy farm produce 20,000 metric tons of manure each year that can be turned into methane gas and eventually electrical power.

That's according to researchers from HP Labs, who are presenting a paper on these findings at the ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability in Phoenix … Read more

HP: WebOS headed to Internet-connected printers

When Hewlett-Packard announced its intentions to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion a few weeks ago, the company had big things in mind for Palm's WebOS. On Tuesday during the conference call for HP's second-quarter 2010 earnings, CEO Mark Hurd revealed some additional detail on the company's plans for the mobile OS.

HP will acquire Palm "in order to enhance our intellectual property...in the connected-mobility space. We expect to leverage WebOS into a variety of form factors, including slates and Web-connected printers," Hurd said Tuesday.

"With a whole series of Web-connected printers, as … Read more

Acer: No Chrome OS device from us at Computex

It's going to be a bit longer until we see a major PC maker using Google's operating system.

Last week VentureBeat reported that Acer would show a device running Chrome OS at Computex, the big Taipei, Taiwan, IT show, and cited multiple sources. It seemed on track with the company chairman's predictions from late last year. But then on Monday, Acer refuted the story.

Acer released a statement that it "has no short-term plans for such a product." It added that "Acer is naturally interested in any product or service that enhances the overall … Read more

RIM tablet said to be 'companion device'

So that RIM tablet? It's not going to be a tablet in the standard sense.

Boy Genius Report said on Thursday that it confirmed with multiple sources that the upcoming Research In Motion tablet will be a "companion device." Where have you heard that before? Oh right: The ill-fated Palm Foleo. The "best idea" Palm founder Jeff Hawkins' ever had that was canceled after its announcement but before a single product was ever shipped.

Why did Palm cancel the Foleo? For the same reason RIM will find out soon enough: companion devices don't really … Read more

Report: Acer's Chrome OS device ready for Computex

The first Chrome OS-based device will be introduced by Acer in two weeks, according to a report by VentureBeat Thursday.

The tech blog cites "multiple sources" saying that Acer will show Chrome OS "devices" at Computex Taipei, a yearly computer and electronics show, which opens June 1. The report doesn't specify what kind of devices.

But Chrome OS, which was introduced by Google last year, is designed to work on Netbooks, smartbooks, and tablets. Acer said in December that it would have a Chrome OS Netbook ready for mid-2010, so VentureBeat's report certainly tracks … Read more

HP Labs sees a great future in plastics

Hewlett-Packard makes 65 million devices every year that sport a glass display.

That--the glass part, at least--is coming to an end in the next decade, according to Carl Taussig, the head of HP Labs' Information Surfaces Lab.

"In 10 years, glass will be as much a memory of displays as cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are today," Taussig said during a tour of his lab Friday.

So why plastic? Because plastic substrates--and their manufacturing process--are cheaper than the glass substrates currently used to make your laptop display or monitor. The thin films of plastic they're using are 40 … Read more